For my Ment’or stage, I chose Somni, the collaboration restaurant of Chefs José Andrés and Aitor Zabala. Somni, the catalan word for dream, was a dream come true for me. Ever since I started my culinary journey, I have dreamed of working with chefs who inspire me to reach for excellence. Making a decision on which restaurant to go to was not easy as there are so many amazing chefs and restaurants in the world. Ultimately, I picked a restaurant and Chef that spoke to me most, Somni helmed by Chef Aitor who worked at the world-renowned El Bulli under Chef Ferran Adrià, a chef who also inspires me deeply.
At Somni there are 3 shifts that make the restaurant run. The first is the morning prep shift, which mainly focuses on time consuming projects, protein fabrication, as well as setting up and gathering mise en place for the later shifts. The a.m. shift team mainly consists of a prep chef, sous chefs, chef de cuisine and Chef Aitor. Chef Aitor explained to me that it was important for me to get a comprehensive look at, and really understand how, the kitchen worked, so I worked the a.m. prep shift for the first 2 weeks. During this time my job was to make delicious Spanish sauces and cook amazing crabs. I also carved out a tomahawk from tuna belly fins for the tuna tomahawk katsu dish which was served with a delicious sauce made from saffron and osetra caviar. After my first week, Chef Aitor gave me the responsibility to make a dish that would become my dish for the entirety of my time at Somni, chicken skin mille-feuille (made from crisped chicken skin, chicken liver mousse, iberico ham, whipped seasoned cream, matsutake, and rosemary. After cleaning a case of chicken skin every other day (sometimes more often), I stacked 3 of the chicken skins which were confited and cooled. I then took one solid piece of skin and crisped it up on a panini press until it was golden and crispy. I then portioned it to a one by three rectangle. Looking back at the overall experience, I really learned the most about myself from this simple but deceivingly hard task — which later earned me the nickname “chicken skin boy,” which I embraced wholeheartedly.
The second shift consisted of Chef Claudia, who was the organizer and the bridge from the morning team and p.m. team. In this shift I helped Chef Claudia as well as the a.m team as much I could while still being responsible for my chicken skin duties. In my opinion, this shift was the one that could make or break the team on any given day. We were responsible for organizing and setting up the group projects that we would tackle as a team later in the day.
The third shift was the team that executed service. We started this shift within an hour of preparing the mise en place each of us was responsible for. Rather than being assigned to stations as is typical in many other kitchens, each chef was responsible for specific dishes and areas. The emphasis was on working together and getting things done as a unit. After the first hour, we tackled group projects which were too time consuming for just one person, ranging from shucking peas and selecting the different sizes needed, cleaning and picking crab, and picking herbs. Immediately after completing the group projects, we cleaned the dining room and the kitchen, which were the same room. After cleaning, we set up the dining room for service. Once the guests arrived, a chef welcomed them, explaining the Somni experience they were about to embark on. As the guests are being greeted, everyone else is working to plate the first wave of snacks consisting of 6-8 different bites. As soon as snacks were ready, we grabbed a dish and presented it to the guests. We would smoothly slide off to the side while one chef remained behind and explained to everyone what they were about to eat and how to eat it. While this was going on, we were onto plating the next course, working together like a beautiful symphony. In between courses, we also talked to the guests, poured them water and wine, and anything else a normal server would do, which made the experience more interactive for the guest. You really had to be aware of everything while service was going on as every service went a little different. Twenty-three courses later, we were done. As soon as the guests from the 1st seating left the room, we jumped into action and reset the room to do the same for the second seating. This style of service was very unique because we had to be both a chef and a server. This is why team work was so important at Somni. There could be no mistakes made because the guests were sitting 10 feet away in the same room watching everything unfold before their very own eyes.
I learned so much from this experience. First and foremost is that being in a kitchen is like being out in the world: You need to have a team and community that have the same goals and passion. Teamwork was always something we strive for but this stage really opened my eyes to what a team can achieve when they work together and push through all adversity. Besides amazing cooking techniques, delicious flavor profiles, and extremely cool style of service, Chef Aitor and his team taught me so much of what it takes to be a Michelin star chef: the attention to detail to execute dish after dish to perfection, and to be more intentional in everything you do in a kitchen, from the way you carry a tray to how you set up your day for success. This was absolutely a once in a lifetime learning experience for me, and words can't describe the amount of knowledge that I gained from working at Somni for two months.
Since my time at Somni, my cooking has definitely gone to another level and I am more intentional in everything I do. My creativity has shot through the roof, and being around so many high level chefs — especially Chef Aitor — gave me an entirely new perspective. The dishes I create now at my home restaurant are more thoughtful, fun and creative. Everyone I work with now tells me that I have become 10x better than I was before. My motivation and passion for the beautiful art of cooking has grown exponentially. The insight I gained at Somni has really changed my mindset and how I approach cooking. It is not just about me and my creativity, but how we as a team push ourselves everyday to become better and find better ways to do things, evolve and grow. My efficiencies in the kitchen have more than doubled, my precision is more accurate and my love for cooking is bigger than ever.
